On her way to work yesterday, Connie Buckley saw an opportunity for a good deed in the
drive-through at the Starbucks on W. Lane Avenue.

The night before, on Facebook, she had learned that some of her friends were each performing 26
acts of kindness — to honor each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Since the tragic shootings a week ago, Buckley had wanted to help but — unable to travel to
Newtown, Conn., or to donate much — didn’t know how.

She was inspired to act in smaller ways, writing a letter of appreciation to the principal of
her son’s preschool and planning to buy coffee for the stranger behind her.

When she reached the pickup window, Buckley found that another act of kindness had preceded
hers: Someone had paid the cost of her beverage, perhaps for the same reason. She returned the
favor for two more customers, her eyes welling with tears.

“It’s amazing. I wish we could just do this all year round,” said Buckley, 35, of Plain City. “
That’s always the hope when something like this happens: that something good comes out of it.”

What has become a nationwide movement began on Sunday with NBC journalist Ann Curry, who tweeted
about 20 acts of kindness in honor of the child victims. In the coming days, the mission grew to 26
acts, to include the Sandy Hook teachers — and, in some cases, a 27th victim: the shooter’s
mother.

“Right now, this country wants to heal,” Curry wrote this week in a blog post. “I think the only
thing comforting in the face of a tragedy like this is to do something good with it if you can. Be
a part of that wave.”

Thousands have since responded, with her original tweet shared more than 3,000 times and a
Facebook page established with more than 30,000 likes.

By Tuesday, Emily Hanson of New Albany had already completed 26 acts: She bought 10 toys and
five bags of dog food for charities, put 10 gift cards on car windshields in the Short North and
left a 100 percent tip for a waitress.

“I think something as small as a $5 gift card to Starbucks can make somebody’s day,” said
Hanson, 25. “Hopefully, everybody who received something will go on to do something kind for
someone else.”

Shana Douglas of Grandview Heights has signed up to be a mentor and committed to a $25 monthly
donation to a child-hunger organization. But another act — one stemming from a conversation between
her and an older woman using a motorized scooter at Target — was unplanned.

After chatting with the woman about hand soap, Douglas abandoned her shopping list and proceeded
to follow her around the store, helping her reach items from the shelves for the next 45 minutes.
The woman wasn’t skeptical, only gracious.

“I loved the fact that she didn’t find it weird at all,” said Douglas, 33. “Some people still
believe that good exists in the world.”

The 26 Acts phenomenon compelled Leah McDougald of the Grandview area to re-connect with a
friend to whom she hadn’t spoken in a decade, after seeing the woman’s Facebook post about a
shortage of presents for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.

Donating gifts was her first act, but the 33-year-old doesn’t plan to keep track. She sees 26
Acts not as a to-do list but as a constant reminder to be generous — something she has thought
about since the shootings last Friday, when she raced to pick up her 8-year-old daughter from
school.

After an election that divided the nation, she said, “Now you hear about trucks full of teddy
bears going across the country.

“What it all boils down to is that we’re a community; we’re a greater community. And we need to
start thinking of each other that way.”